ERO Duties After Submitting the Return to the IRS

Record Keeping and Documentation Requirements

EROs must retain the following material until the end of the calendar year at the business address from which it originated the return or at a location that allows the ERO to readily access the material as it must be available at the time of IRS request. An ERO may retain the required records at the business address of the Responsible Official or at a location that allows the Responsible Official to readily access the material during any period of time the office is closed, as it must be available at the time of IRS request through the end of the calendar year.

A complete copy of the electronic portion of the return that can be readily and accurately converted into an electronic transmission that the IRS can process; and

The acknowledgement file for IRS accepted returns.

Forms 8879 and 8878 must be available to the IRS in the same manner described above for three years from the due date of the return or the IRS received date, whichever is later. The Submission ID must be associated with Form 8879 and 8878:

The Submission ID can be added to the Form 8879 and 8878 or

the acknowledgment containing the Submission ID can be associated with Forms 8879 and 8878.

If the acknowledgement is used to identify the Submission ID, the acknowledgement must be kept in accordance with published retention requirements for Forms 8879 and 8878. The acknowledgement is not required to be physically attached to Form 8879 and 8878; it can be electronically stored.

EROs may electronically image and store all paper records they are required to retain for IRS e-file. This includes Forms 8453 and paper copies of Forms W-2, W-2G and 1099-R as well as any supporting documents not included in the electronic record and Forms 8879 and 8878. The storage system must satisfy the requirements of Revenue Procedure 97-22, 1997-1 C.C. 652, Retention of Books and Records. In brief, the electronic storage system must ensure an accurate and complete transfer of the hard copy to the electronic storage media. The ERO must be able to reproduce all records with a high degree of legibility and readability (including the taxpayers’ signatures) when displayed on a video terminal and when reproduced in hard copy.

Providing Information to the Taxpayer

The ERO must provide a complete copy of the return to the taxpayer. EROs may provide this copy in any media, including electronic, that is acceptable to both the taxpayer and the ERO. The copy need not contain the social security number of the paid preparer. A complete copy of a taxpayer's return includes Form 8453 and other documents that the ERO cannot electronically transmit, when applicable, as well as the electronic portion of the return. The electronic portion of the return can be contained on a replica of an official form or on an unofficial form. However, on an unofficial form, the ERO must reference data entries to the line numbers or descriptions on an official form. If the taxpayer provided a completed paper return for electronic filing and the information on the electronic portion of the return is identical to the information provided by the taxpayer, the ERO does not have to provide a printout of the electronic portion of the return to the taxpayer. The ERO should advise the taxpayer to retain a complete copy of the return and any supporting material. The ERO should also advise taxpayers that, if needed, they must file an amended return as a paper return and mail it to the submission processing center that would handle the taxpayer's paper return. Refer to the current year’s tax instructions for addresses.

Acknowledgments of Transmitted Return Data

The IRS electronically acknowledges the receipt of all transmissions. Returns in each transmission are either accepted or rejected for specific reasons. Accepted returns meet the processing criteria and IRS considers them “filed” as soon as the return is signed electronically or through the receipt by the IRS of a paper signature. Rejected returns fail to meet processing criteria and the IRS considers them not filed. The acknowledgment identifies the source of the problem using a system of business rules and element names (tag names). The business rules tell why the return rejected and the element names tell which fields of the electronic return data are involved. Information regarding business rules and correcting common errors is available on IRS.gov.

The acknowledgement record of an accepted individual income tax return contains other information that is useful to the originator. The record confirms if the IRS accepted a PIN, if an elected EFW paid a balance due, and if a private/non-routable IP address is present in the return. The ERO should check acknowledgement records regularly to identify returns requiring follow up action and should take reasonable steps to address issues identified on acknowledgement records.

Rejected electronic individual income tax return data can be corrected and retransmitted without new signatures or authorizations if changes do not differ from the amount on the original electronic return by more than $50 to "Total income" or "AGI," or more than $14 to "Total tax," "Federal income tax withheld," "Refund" or "Amount you owe." The ERO must give taxpayers copies of the new electronic return data.

If the State submission is linked to an IRS submission (also referred to as a Fed/State return), the IRS will check to see if there is an accepted IRS submission under that Submission Id. If there is not an accepted federal return for that tax type, the IRS will deny the State submission and an acknowledgement will be sent to the transmitter. The state has no knowledge that the state return was denied (rejected) by the IRS. Subsequent rejection of state electronic return data by a state tax administration agency does not affect federal electronic return data accepted by the IRS. States determine when they accept as filed state electronic return data received from the Federal/State e‑file Program. Contact the state tax administration agency when problems or questions arise.

Resubmission of Rejected Tax Returns

If the IRS rejects the electronic portion of a taxpayer’s individual income tax return for processing, and the ERO cannot rectify the reason for the rejection, the ERO must take reasonable steps to inform the taxpayer of the rejection within 24 hours. When the ERO advises the taxpayer that it has not filed the return, the ERO must provide the taxpayer with the business rule(s) accompanied by an explanation. If the taxpayer chooses not to have the electronic portion of the return corrected and transmitted to the IRS, or if the IRS cannot accept the return for processing, the taxpayer must file a paper return. In order to timely file the return, the taxpayer must file the paper return by the later of the due date of the return or ten calendar days after the date the IRS gives notification that it rejected the electronic portion of the return or that the return cannot be accepted for processing. Taxpayers should include an explanation in the paper return as to why they are filing the return after the due date.

Advising Taxpayers about Refund Inquiries

EROs should tell taxpayers how to follow up on returns and refunds by pointing out Where’s My Refund. If taxpayers do not have access to the Internet, the ERO should provide taxpayers with the IRS Tele-Tax return information number, (800) 829-4477. Either of these options gives the date of depositing or mailing of their refund.

Before checking on refunds, taxpayers should wait at least three weeks from the time the IRS acknowledges acceptance of the return data. Because the IRS updates refund information each weekend, EROs should advise taxpayers not to check more than once a week to avoid checking with no possibility of success.

To check on refunds, taxpayers need to enter the first Social Security Number shown on their tax return, the filing status and the exact amount of the refund in whole dollars.

If taxpayers do not receive their direct deposit within one week (refund check within 30 days) of the date given, they may call the Refund Hotline number at (800) 829-1954 which has information about taxpayers’ refunds (when it becomes available).

Refund Delays

Taxpayers often ask EROs to help them when refunds take longer than expected. The IRS may delay refunds for a number of reasons, including the following:

Errors in Direct Deposit information (refunds then sent by check);

Financial institution refusals of Direct Deposits (refunds then sent by check) or delays in crediting the Direct Deposit to the taxpayer’s account;

The IRS sends a letter or notice explaining the issue(s) and how to resolve the issue(s) to the taxpayer when it delays a refund. The letter or notice contains the contact telephone number and address for the taxpayer to use for further assistance.

If taxpayers’ refunds are lost or misapplied, taxpayers do not receive notices or letters or there is no information on Where’s My Refund or the Refund Hotline (see Advising Taxpayers about Refund Inquiries above), EROs should advise taxpayers to call the IRS taxpayer assistance number.

Refund Offsets

The IRS offsets as much of a refund as is needed to pay overdue taxes owed by taxpayers and notifies them when this occurs. The Financial Management Service (FMS) offsets taxpayers’ refunds through the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) to pay off past-due child support, federal agency non-tax debts such as student loans and state income tax obligations. Offsets to non-tax debts occur after the IRS has certified the refunds to FMS for payment but before FMS makes the Direct Deposits or issues the paper checks. Refund offsets reduce the amount of the expected Direct Deposit or paper check but they do not delay the issuance of the remaining refund (if any) after offset. If taxpayers owe non-tax debts they may contact the agency they owe, prior to filing their returns, to determine if the agency submitted their debts for refund offset. FMS sends taxpayers offset notices if it applies any part of their refund to non-tax debts. Taxpayers should contact the agencies identified in the FMS offset notice when offsets occur if they dispute the non-tax debts or have questions about the offsets. If taxpayers need further clarification, they may call the Treasury Offset Program Call Center at (800) 304-3107. If a refund is in a joint name but only one spouse owed the debt, the "injured spouse" should file Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation.